Ficciones: 2. The Approach to Al-Mu’tasim Summary & Analysis

In this story, Borges writes about the reception of a fictional book, The Approach to Al-Mu’tasim, by a fictional author, Mir Bahadur Ali. Borges cites two (also fictional) critics who have reviewed the novel harshly, and he sets out to prove that their criticisms are incorrect. The cover of the novel proclaims that the book is the “first detective novel written by a native of Bombay City.” Borges himself holds the second edition of the book, entitled The Conversation with the Man Called Al-Mu’tasim: A Game with Shifting Mirrors. However, he believes that the first edition, which he is unable to find, is most likely superior.

In the novel, a young unnamed law student in Bombay struggles with his Islamic faith. One night, he accidentally walks into a brawl between Hindus and Muslims and kills, or believes that he kills, a Hindu. He flees and takes a convoluted path to hiding, crossing “two sets of railroad tracks, or the same tracks twice.” The student hides in the top of a tower, where he meets a grave robber. Through the night, the student and the grave robber talk about the lives of criminals. When he wakes up, the student realizes that the grave robber has robbed him. The student thinks about his own situation and wonders how he has “shown himself capable of killing an idolater” while not truly knowing which belief system (Hindu or Muslim) is more justified.

Here, Borges interrupts his review of The Approach to Al-Mu’Tasim to comment that the narrative shows a student falling in with the lowest classes. The student sees a tenderness in these people that he decides are traces of the mysterious sage named Al-Mu’tasim. Thus, the student dedicates himself to finding this sage. Continuing the review, Borges writes that the student embarks on a long and convoluted journey through India’s lands and castes, looking for the sage. One day, the student comes upon a “gallery” with a curtain covering the entrance. Perceiving some kind of “radiance,” the student calls out for Al-Mu’tasim, and a wonderful male voice tells him to come in. The novel ends just as the student opens the curtain and goes inside.

Borges analyzes the author’s project of attempting to fictionalize a prophet. Though Borges praises the original 1932 edition of the novel, he criticizes the 1934 edition (which he has on hand) for turning Al-Mu’tasim into an allegory for a unitary god rather than allowing him to be a unique character in and of himself. Borges also skeptically reflects on the tendency of critics to praise books that derive from earlier books.

In a long footnote at the end of the story, Borges summarizes The Colloquy of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar, a real-life story from 12th-century Persia. In this story, the world’s birds gather to decide who their sovereign will be. The hoopoe, who is the wisest of the birds, suggests that they find Simorgh, a famous mythological bird in Persian legend. The hoopoe tells the birds, each of whom represents a human fault, that they must cross seven valleys to reach Simorgh. Each of these valleys holds symbolic significance, showing a human challenge towards enlightenment. At the end of the story, only 30 birds end up making it to the abode of Simorgh. There, they realize that they themselves are Simorgh—the word “Simorgh” means “30 birds” in Persian.